www.EmploymentCrossing.com A low-cost dental program available at five elementary schools in the St. Paul, Minnesota district will soon expand to all of the district's 44 elementary program sites, according to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen announced the Smiles Across Minnesota initiative, which offers preventive dental care and other services in school buildings during the school day. The program will be in all the district's elementary schools within two years. "We can't teach kids if they aren't in school," said Carstarphen, citing undiagnosed dental problems as a reason kids stay home. "... We don't want their little hearts and heads and bodies hurting." The Invest St. Paul initiative, a $25 million dollar city program to improve four struggling neighborhoods, has teamed up with Smiles Across Minnesota to offer the care. Children's Dental Services, a nonprofit that staffs the clinics with a dentist or dental hygienist, is providing the actual care. Under the Smiles Across Minnesota initiative, last year, services reached more than 3,100 students at four different sites in St. Paul. With the help of various local foundations, Children's Dental Services hopes to reach up to 7,000 kids annually once the services have been expanded to all the schools. Children's Dental Services estimates the initiative will cost $200,000 to $300,000 annually, which is paid for with fees from the services, as well as private foundation grants and support
